


The Hurry and the Harm

by arcapelago (arcanewinter)



Category: X-Men: Days of Future Past (2014) - Fandom, X-Men: First Class (2011) - Fandom
Genre: Assumptions, Famous Last Words, M/M, Sibling Love, Trust
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-25
Updated: 2015-03-25
Packaged: 2018-03-19 13:12:24
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 733
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3611313
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/arcanewinter/pseuds/arcapelago
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Raven sits with her brother after his return from the Caspartina with some questions about the stranger, the mutant, Charles has met there.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The Hurry and the Harm

**Author's Note:**

> "The Hurry and the Harm" is the title of an album and song by City and Colour.

Raven studies her brother's face at the hotel bar. Despite his stillness his words are a little breathless, and under soft lights the same color as her blonde hair he looks elated, maybe a little awe-struck. She thinks maybe she's seen this look before, the wide eyes and the enchanted smile of a boy extending his hand to her. But as she sips her cola and watches him nearing the bottom of his second scotch, she knows she's never seen this look exactly. Not from the boy who eventually grew up.

She smiles at him, though he's not looking at her.

"You really just dove in after him, huh?"

She says it casually, but she knows this isn't typical for her stuffy fusspot of a brother, not by a long shot. She isn't sure it's typical for anyone, really. Not even the coast guards beat him in.

He laughs oddly. He seems frightened and proud of himself at the same time. "He was going to die if I didn't. If someone didn't reach him." He stares down at his glass and eventually takes the last sip just as nerves seem to catch up to him again. She watches him signal for another.

"And he's"--she takes notice of the people around her, none too close--"like us?"

Charles mutely nods as a fresh drink is set in front of him and Raven, though she knows she should feel the opposite, is disappointed. The excitement on her brother's face when the bartender steps away again drives the sensation deeper. Charles is flushed when he turns toward her, contained, but just barely. "He almost destroyed Shaw's boat with the anchor. He could control it, like it weighed nothing. It was astonishing."

Raven lifts her brows. Her brother sounds like he's describing a visit to the cinema, not reckless criminal behavior happening before his eyes. "What else do we even know about this guy? If he wasn't with you or the Coast Guard, what was he doing there in the first place?"

To her surprise, Charles falls quiet. She's seldom known him to do so. If he isn't giving her advice or strongly worded expectations, he's going on a mile a minute in stubborn Queen's English (he could sound as American as she does if he wanted to) about his latest studies. But now his mouth is still, almost slack, as he stares over the top of his drink. It's not possible that Charles knows nothing. It can only mean he knows too much.

She turns to face him on her stool. "Charles--"

"He's complicated," he says. "He's--"

Raven watches her brother search for the right words, but Raven already knows them. _Dangerous. Destructive._

_Thrilling._

She turns slowly back to her cola sitting on the bar where she left it. She goes so far as to rest her grip around it.

"Are you sure this is OK, Charles?" she asks. She is rarely so serious. For all her show, she rarely doubts her brother as strongly as she does at this moment.

When she looks up at him, there is again that look, and it is not directed at her. She knows now what it is, and it is not directed at her . . .

*****

Raven pauses at the door to Charles' room. He is propped up on his pillows, asleep, but only half, and he soon stirs and turns his face to see her. He smiles. His whole face is changed by it. She is always changed by it.

Dressed and pale again of skin and hair, she goes to him. A sister still, she climbs into his hospital bed and she leans into his welcoming embrace. The wound in her leg aches. He is bandaged above his left eye. It's nothing permanent; not this time.

She keeps close though his trembling almost shakes her, and his tears are wet in her hair. She feels his lips on her forehead, and closes her eyes.

*****

Seated beside her at the bar, Charles reaches for her. Ever the insufferable brother, he leans into her and presses his lips to her forehead, and she tolerates the embarrassment of it in a public place. She feels his reassurance in the squeeze of her shoulder. She tries to feel his confidence.

"I trust him, Raven," he says. His blue eyes are clear with a new world before them.

"He won't hurt us."


End file.
